ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
Centre deliberates ways to ensure easier adoption of Standard IS 19000:2022 by Startups & MSME’s to boost the confidence of Industry and Consumers
The scheme- Conformity Assessment Scheme on IS 19000:2022, has been formulated with the objective of certifying the processes related to the collection, moderation and publication of online customer reviews as per IS 19000:2022 to check the publication of fake or misleading reviews, said Secretary Department of Consumer Affairs, Rohit Kumar Singh.
In this regard, Secretary chaired a meeting titled ‘Online Consumer Reviews — Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and Publication’ here today.
Under the conformity assessment scheme for Grant of Conformity for Process as per standard IS 19000:2022 on ‘Online Consumer Reviews — Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and Publication’, conformity is granted for demonstrating conformity to all the requirements of IS 19000:2022.
The Scheme lays down the criteria and responsibilities of the organization and ancillary requirements for grant and operation of certification requirements for processes related to the collection, moderation, and publication of online customer reviews, and charges relating to certification of said process.
This Conformity Assessment Scheme will ensure the authenticity and reliability of consumer reviews published online, and will help consumers make informed decisions. This is a major step towards ensuring consumer protection and promoting fair trade practices in the e-commerceindustry.
The rapid growth of consumer review for a wide range of products  and services  have the potential to empower consumers and drive industry growth, by creating a more transparent and dynamic way to exchange information.
The meeting was attended by senior officials of Department of Consumer Affairs and Bureau of Indian Standards
Ministry of Defence
33rd Edition of India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol  Commences at Port Blair
Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Sultan Thaha Syaifuddin and Maritime Patrol Aircraft CN-235 led by Cmde Dafit Santoso arrived at Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India for the Opening Ceremony of the 33rd edition of the India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol  to be held from 19 Mar to 04 Apr 2019. His Excellarry Ambassador of Indonesia to India, Mr. Shidharto Raza Suryodipuro is also visiting Port Blair to attend the Opening Ceremony to be held at Port Blair from 20 - 21 Mar 19. The Indian delegation is led by the senior officer from the Indian Navy, Commodore Ashutosh Ridhorkar, VSM Naval Component Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Command.
The ship and aircraft from both the countries would undertake patrolling on the respective sides of 236 nautical miles long International Maritime Boundary line. The patrolling would be conducted in three phases from 22-31 March 2019. This will be followed by a Closing Ceremony at Belawan, Indonesia, which is scheduled from 01-04 April 2019.
The IND-INDO CORPAT Series of bilaterals seek to underscore India’s peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly Maritime neighbours countries toensure good order in the maritime domain, consolidate interoperability and strengthen existing bonds of friendship between India and Indonesia. During the stay in Port Blair harbour, various activities such as official calls, formal reception onboard ship, sporting fixtures between both navies, ship open to visitors and professional interactions have been planned.
Indian Naval assets have been increasinly deployed in the recent times to address the maritime concerns on the region. In addition, as part of the Indian Government’s vision of SAGAR , the Indian Navy has also been involved in assisting countries in the Indian Ocean Region with EEZ Surveillance, Search and Rescue, and other capacity-building and capability-enhancement activities. The 33rd IND-INDO CORPAT, also coinciding with 70 years of India-Indonesia diplomatic ties, will contribute towards the Indian Navy’s efforts to consolidate inter-operability and forge strong bonds of friendship across the seas.
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Ministry of Railways
PRS SYSTEM DOWNTIME ACTIVITY
Kolkata, October 21, 2021
The railway authority has informed that in view of the downtime activity at Passenger Reservation System  Data Centre Kolkata between 11:45 pm at night of October 23, 2021  & 05:00 am of October 24, 2021 , internet booking, enquiries and other allied services will not be available during the period over the Eastern part of the country, i.e., Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway, East Coast Railway, South East Central Railway, Northeast Frontier Railway and East Central Railway.
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
Creamy Layer Formula for OBC
The ‘creamy layer’ for OBC reservation is the same for the Group A/Class I officers of the All India Central and State Services  and Group B/Class-II officers - whether working with State/Central Government or the PSUs  or comparable posts and positions under private employment.
No details of any such inquiry has been given by the National Commission for Backward Classes .
The OM of the DoPT dated 8.9.1993 enumerates six categories of persons/sections to who fall under the ‘creamy layer’, for whom the OBC reservation shall not apply. This OM is still being followed for determination of ‘creamy layer’ among the OBCs.
This information was given by The Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Sushri Pratima Bhoumik in the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today.
Ministry of Defence
The Army Aviation Corps Celebrated its Thirty Fourth Raising Day
The Army Aviation Corps celebrated its Thirty Fourth Raising Day on 01 Nov 2019. To mark this occasion, a Wreath Laying Ceremony was held at National War Memorial, India Gate, New Delhi. Wreaths were laid by Lt Gen Anjan Mukharjee  and Maj Gen AK Suri, ADG Army Aviation, in presence of host of serving and retired aviation personnel.
Army Aviation Corps has grown from an arm with limited Reconnaissance & Observation assets into a potent aerial manoeuvre arm of the Indian Army. Combat aviation assets with modern avionics, electro-optics and weapon systems can perform multiple tasks in the entire spectrum of conflict in varied and inhospitable terrain including high altitude areas.
The journey of last 33 years for the Army Aviation Corps, since its raising, has witnessed both qualitative and quantitative growth. The Arm, in its relatively short journey has remained poised towards expansion and modernisation. The Arm has been supported very well by the organisation and remains committed to be a major game changer as a potent force multiplier in future.
Col Aman Anand
PRO 
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Prime Minister's Office
Smriti Van chronicles Gujarat’s resilience: PM
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed happiness that people are visiting Smriti Van in Bhuj to pay tribute to the those tragically lost in the Earthquake of 2001
In a reply to a tweet by Gujarat Information, the Prime Minister tweeted:
“Happy to see this. Smriti Van is a tribute to those we tragically lost in the Earthquake of 2001. It also chronicles Gujarat’s resilience. The coming months will be a great time to visit Kutch. There’s the Rann Utsav and now there’s Smriti Van also.”
Ministry of Home Affairs
Cabinet Secretary chairs NCMC meeting to review flood situation in Bihar
A meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee , chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, Shri Rajiv Gauba, was held today to review the prevailing flood situation in the state of Bihar.
The State Government informed that due to extremely heavy rainfall in the State, alongwith high levels of water in the rivers, there has been flooding in 16 districts.
Extensive evacuation, rescue and relief efforts have been undertaken by the State Government machinery, in which all assistance has been rendered by NDRF and other Central Agencies. Twenty teams of the NDRF have been deployed in the State of which six have been located in Patna, which has witnessed very heavy rains and water logging over the past three days.
Two helicopters of the Air Force are currently deployed in rescue and relief operations. Four heavy duty pumps, made available by the Ministry of Coal are reaching Patna today, which would pump out about 3000 gallons per minute from water logged areas.
Essential supplies of food and drinking water are being supplied by the State Government and current efforts are towards restoration of electricity in flood affected areas.
While, teams from Central Ministries have already carried out assessment of damages in the State, a fresh visit would be made by them to take stock of the current situation.
IMD has stated that while there has been very heavy rainfall in the State over the past few days, the situation is improving now.
Cabinet Secretary took stock of the current situation, preparedness, rescue and relief operations and directed that all assistance, as sought by the state, be provided to meet the crisis.
Senior officials of the Ministries of Home, Defence, Coal and Water Resources, as well as those from NDMA, NDRF, IMD and Central Water Commission attended the meeting. Chief Secretary and other senior officers from the State Government participated in the meeting through Video Conference.
Prime Minister's Office
PM congratulates distinguished architect Shri Balkrishna Doshi on being awarded UK's Royal Gold Medal 2022
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has spoken to distinguished architect Shri Balkrishna Doshi and Congratulated him on being awarded the Royal Gold Medal 2022.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said;
"Spoke to the distinguished architect Shri Balkrishna Doshi Ji and congratulated him on being awarded the Royal Gold Medal 2022. His contributions to the world of architecture are monumental. His works are globally admired for their creativity, uniqueness and diverse nature."
NITI Aayog
Atal Innovation Mission organized national outreach meet for second edition of Atal New India Challenge in collaboration with AIC-GIM Foundation
Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog today organised 'National Outreach Meet' for the second edition of the Atal New India Challenge  at International Centre Goa, hosted by AIC-GIM Foundation.
ANIC is a flagship program of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. The program aims to seek, select, support and nurture technology-based innovations that solve sectoral challenges of national importance and societal relevance. Continuing on the path to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, AIM has launched the ANIC 2.0 program to proactively collaborate with esteemed Ministries and the associated industries, and provide a steady stream of innovative products & solutions. Each ANIC winner will be eligible for a funding of up to INR 1 crore. These winners will get mentorship, networking and incubation support by Atal Incubation Centres across the country.
The sectors in which ANIC 2.0 launched the challenges include E-mobility, Road Transportation, Space Technology and Application, Sanitation, Medical Devices and Equipment, Waste Management and Agriculture.
Program Director, AIM, NITI Aayog Pramit Dash interacted with Atal Incubation Centres and startups from Goa present at the event. He highlighted the relevance of ANIC 2.0 in current innovation landscape and encouraged the stakeholders to champion the program at national and state level. He emphasised on supporting 100+ innovations in year 2022-23 through ANIC 2.0, across sectors.
The first edition of the ANIC program received more than 1000 applications for 24 challenges and is currently supporting 30+ startups through grants, partnerships, networking, tech support, mentorship, infrastructure and access to investors.
For more information about ANIC, scan below
Ministry of Heavy Industries
Reducing the Cost of Electric Vehicles
Thecost of electric vehicle is relatively higher as compared to corresponding IC engine vehicle cost,the following steps have been taken by the Government to bring down the cost of electric/Hybrid vehicles on par with those internal combustion engines.
- i. The demand incentive for electric two wheelers has been increased to Rs. 15,000/KWh from Rs. 10,000/KWh with an increase in cap from 20% to 40% of the cost of vehicle from 11th June, 2021, thus enabling cost of Electric two wheelers at par with that of ICE two wheeler vehicles.
- The Government on 12th May, 2021 approved a Production Linked Incentive  scheme for manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cell  in the country in order to bring down prices of battery in the country. Drop in battery price will result in cost reduction of electric vehicles.
- Electric vehicles are covered under Production Linked Incentive  scheme for automobile and auto components, which was approved on 15.09.2021 with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 25,938 Cr. for a period of five years.
- GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12% to 5%; GST on chargers/ charging stations for electric vehicles has been reduced from 18% to 5%.
- Ministry of Road Transport & Highways  announced that battery-operated vehicles will be given green license plates and be exempted from permit requirements.
- MoRTH issued a notification advising states to waive road tax on EVs, which in turn will help reduce the initial cost of EVs.
The Ministry of Finance has written to all Ministries/Departments of the Government of India to replace the petrol and diesel cars hired by them in their Secretariats and attached offices by electric cars for mobility in Delhi.
This information was given bythe Minister of State For Heavy Industries Shri Krishan Pal Gurjarin a written reply in the Lok Sabha today
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Union Minister Smt. Smriti Irani to preside over event on Women in Emerging India in New Delhi tomorrow
Press Information Bureau  and Indian Institute of Mass Communication  under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting are jointly organizing an event “Women in Emerging India”, on the eve of International Women’s Day on 7th March, 2020, at the National Media Center at 12 noon.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Textiles Smt Smriti Zubin Irani would deliver the key note address on the theme of Women in Emerging India. During the function, a report prepared by IIMC on “Status of Women in Media in South Asia” will also be released by the Minister.
Professor and Ambassador, Founding Trustee & Convener, South Asia Women’s Network Ms Veena Sikri would deliver a brief note on the report, which will be followed by an address by President of Indian Women Press Core, Ms Jyoti Malhotra.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and various media heads would also be available during the event.
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Ministry of Power
Information Technology interventions in electricity distribution
IT enablement of the Distribution sector has remained one of the major thrust areas under various centrally sponsored schemes. IT enablement was taken up in 1260 towns under R-APDRP, Part-A. Further, to expand the coverage of IT enablement of distribution business to non-RAPDRP areas, based on the DPRs received from States/Utilities, Ministry of Power approved IT enablement of an additional 1651 towns under IPDS . The implementation of IT Phase II works in these towns has been taken up with an objective to enable Discoms to improve consumer satisfaction, monitoring, carryout effective energy accounting and auditing based on use of IT enabled System.
Further, the Government of India have recently launched a Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme which provides financial assistance to Distribution Utilities linked to reforms and improvement of performance. The scheme envisages following Information Technology  interventions to facilitate AT&C losses reduction:
 Smart Metering:
Smart Metering of Consumers and System Metering  is one of the major components under the scheme to facilitate automatic measurement of energy flows and energy accounting as well as auditing without any human intervention. The scheme envisages that along with installation of prepaid Smart Metering and the associated Advanced Metering Infrastructure , installation of communicable System meters at Feeder and Distribution Transformer level will enable proper energy accounting for identification of theft prone pockets and high loss areas.
 Advanced ICT including AI and ML based solutions:
The scheme envisages leveraging Artificial Intelligence to analyse data generated through IT/OT devices including System Meters, prepaid Smart meters to prepare actionable MIS from system generated energy accounting reports so as to enable the DISCOMs take informed decisions on loss reduction, demand forecasting, asset management, consumer analytics and for other predictive analysis.
 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition  and Distribution Management System  in urban areas
Bureau of Energy Efficiency  has recently notified the Conduct of Energy Audit in Distribution Companies Regulations, 2021, which entail a progressive move towards IT enabled Energy Accounting methodology. To sensitize DISCOM officials about annual energy audit and periodic energy accounting in Electricity Distribution regulations, BEE has undertaken webinars and also organized a Workshop on 6th December, 2021.
This information was given by Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Shri R.K.Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Suresh Prabhu to Chair First Meeting of Think Tank on Framework for National Policy on E-Commerce
Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, will chair the first meeting of the think tank on the Framework for National Policy on E-commerce to be held on April 24th, 2018. Senior officers of the ministries/ departments of the Government of India involved in different aspects of e-commerce; high level representatives from the industry bodies, e-commerce companies, telecommunication companies and IT companies; Reserve Bank of India; and independent experts have been invited to participate in the meeting.
The think tank on the Framework for National Policy on E-commerce has been established recently by the Department of Commerce. It will provide a credible forum for an inclusive and fact-based dialogue leading to recommendations for informed policy making, so that the country is adequately prepared to take advantage of the opportunities, and meet the challenges, that would arise from the next wave of advancements in digital economy.
The think tank on the Framework for National Policy on E-commerce will seek to collectively deliberate on the challenges confronting India in the arena of digital economy with a view to developing recommendations for a comprehensive and overarching national policy on e-commerce. Some of the issues that will be discussed by the think tank include the following aspects of e-commerce and digital economy: physical and digital infrastructure, regulatory regime, taxation policy, data flows, server localisation, intellectual property rights protection, FDI, technology flows, responding to disruptions in industrial organisation, need for skill development and trade-related aspects. Developments on e-commerce at the WTO and evolving appropriate national position on the underlying issues, would be another important dimension of the discussions of the think tank on the Framework for National Policy on E-commerce.
The think tank will explore options for providing a fillip to entrepreneurship in digital economy. It will identify specific policy interventions for nurturing domestic firms and create jobs in e-commerce.
Representatives of almost fifty organisations are expected to participate in the first meeting of the think tank on the Framework for National Policy on E-commerce to be held on 24 April 2018.
Ministry of Finance
Fourth G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Meeting concludes in Mumbai
Plenary discussions to contribute towards culmination of three year FIAP 2020
GPFI members agree to continue working towards vision of universal financial inclusion under the new G20 Financial Inclusion Action Plan
The Fourth G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion  Meeting which was held in Mumbai from September 14-16, 2023 concluded today. The three day meeting saw G20 GPFI delegates engaging over thought provoking discussions on energizing growth for MSMEs, empowering consumers through digital financial literacy and consumer protection as well as key priority areas of GPFI, namely, digital financial inclusion and SME Finance.
On day one of the Meeting, a Symposium was organised involving international experts engaging around two key themes “Energizing MSMEs for Higher Economic Growth through Digital Public Infrastructure” and “Credit Guarantees and SME ecosystems”. The Symposium was addressed by Shri Ajay Seth, Secretary , Ministry of Finance; Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor ; Mr. Mohamed Gouled, Vice President  and Dr. Arjun Kumar Karki, Global Coordinator-LDC Watch and Former Ambassador of Nepal to USA.
Secretary  highlighted that through the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, the G20 Leaders renewed their commitment to accelerate “strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth” and “the full and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and underscored that MSMEs will be central in fulfilling both the commitments. Through two panel discussions, eminent global panellists deliberated upon approaches to bridge the challenges faced by MSMEs through innovative measures like DPI for bridging the credit gap, promoting transparency, enhance affordability and drive innovations and productivity gains.
On day two and three, the GPFI Plenary Meeting saw discussions on GPFI work regarding implementation of G20 GPFI High Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion, Update of National Remittance Plans and SME best practices and innovative instruments to overcome common constraints in SME financing. The discussions contributed towards the culmination of the remaining work of the on-going three year FIAP 2020 which is in its terminal year and is being implemented by the GPFI.
The day three discussions were also complemented with a Symposium on “Advancing Financial Inclusion through Digital Public Infrastructure: Empowering Consumers through Digital and Financial Literacy and Consumer Protection”. The Symposium was addressed by Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator , Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran , Shri K.V. Shaji Kumar  and saw engaging discussions on building digital ecosystems which enable digitally and financially empowered individuals and enterprises.
GPFI members agreed to continue working towards the vision of universal financial inclusion under the new G20 Financial Inclusion Action Plan.